Bearing.



PATENTED NOV. 27

J. O. OROMWELL.

BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 22. 1904.

Ul HTED h'ilriTES JOHN CROMYYELL, OF CLEVELAND,

Ol-liO.

BEARENG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Nov. 27, 1906.

Application filed April 22, 1904. Serial Her 204,343.

To all/l whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN C. CROMWELL, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful lmproveinent in Bearings, of which thefollowing is a specification, the principle of the invention hein hereinexplained and the best mode in whicli l have contemplated applying thatprinciple soas to distinguish. it from other inventions.

My invention relates to bearings for rotating shafts, and isparticularly designed for such shafts as are subject to strains tendingto displace them laterally and to cause them to oscillate.

The broad invention, while capable of use in many structures, isparticularly adapted for the mountinp of bowl-shafts of centrifugalseparators, since in such apparatus the highest speeds are attained orsought to be attained and the slightest deviation of the. load fromperfect balance will cause the shaft to tend to oscillate in the mostmarked manner and cause it to cramp its bearings and buckle out ofshape. This tendency is further accentuated and at the same timecomplicated by sidewisc thrust or pull of the power-transmittii1gmeehamsm. The conditions therefore obtaining in centrifugal separatorsare such as have hitherto re udered it practically impossible tosimultaneously use antiiriction-lmarings and allow for the oscillationand sidewise shifting of the shaft so as topermit the disturbing strainsto be counteracted without distortion of the shaft or cramping of thebearings. i have, however, invented a structure in which the shaft ismounted in antifriction-bcairings, so that it will be free to oscillateunder disturbing strain, and such oscillation will take place withoutthe bearings being cramped.

The annexed drawings and the following descri )tion set forth in detailcertain means embodying the invcution, such. disclosed meansconstituting but'ime of various mechanical forms in which the principleof the invention. may be used.

in said annexed drawings, Figure l represents a broken verticalsectional view of the triiugal separator with ad a ent 1m ported in andhaving secured to it in ...'u-i

frame of oer sud connecting parts, s rowing the. snait proved bearing,said shaft being mounted upon a suitable lower bearing forming no partof this invention. Fig. 2 represents a partial plan. view and partialhorizontal section taken upon the planes indicated by the lines 2 2,Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a bottom plan view of my improved bearing,taken upon the-plane indicated by the line 3 3, Fig. i. Fig. irepresents a View similar to that of Fig. 3, of a sligllily-modifiedconstruction of bearing; and Fig represents a central vertical sectionoi an inner bearing-collar forming an element of my invention.

My l'l'rYi'H; i is adapted to a great variety of uses, but is especiallyserviceable when applied to the shaft of the bowl of a centrifugalseparator, and l. have shown and will now proceed to describe it asapplied to such use.

The part of the suppciting-frame of one i illustrate its use as thusapplied to a centrifugal separator. Carried upon the upper part of theshaft 15 and supporting the same is the improved hearing, which formsthe subjectrnai ter of this invention. Said bearing coinprises a mainring; E, provided at one end with an angular flange 6, having an outercurved surface, as shown, the piu'posc of which curved surface will behereinafter fully explained. This llangc c rests upon a shoulder a,suitably secured to the. support ing-frarue A or preferably forming asintogral inwardly-projacting part of the same, which shoulder isprovided .with an upper curved surface complementary to that of theflange 6. Incl sing the spindle B and within the ring a bearingrcollarF, provided upon its inner periphery with a plurality of lugsf, pointedat one endand running, parallel with the axis of the ,spindle B. Aball-race G is formed by an inner ball-groove in the ring E and anouter. ball-groove in the collar F, and suitable halls ii are providei'ltherefor. An auxiliary or adjusting ring J is provided which has allauge and is externally screwihreaded at and adapted to screw into asimilar thread 6, cut in the inner periphery 1 ring J is of the ring E,such latter thread extending from that end of the ring E contiguous tothe flange e up to the wall of the ball-race. The inner end of saidauxiliary ring J is adapted to screw down closely to the balls H and tothus hold the bearing-collar F in place. Screws 1' are tapped into theflange j of the auxiliary ring J and bear up against the flange e of themain ring E, as shown in Figs land 3. In the modification shown in Fig.4 these screws 9' are tapped into the flange e of the main ring E, andthe heads of the same bear upon the flange y' of the adjustingring J,parts of said latter flange being cut away, as shown at j to allow for aslight turning of the ring VJ under the heads of the screws 7' Theflange e of the main ring E is provided with a notch 6 into whichprojects a pin K, screwed in through the frame from the outside andwhich prevents the rotation of the sleeve E. The shoulder j of theadjustingprovided with a number of small notches 1' by means of which itmay be tightened up with a spanner-wrench. When the parts of the bearinghave been assembled,

as shown in Fig. 1, the separating-bowl D and the shaft B are connectedto the frame by passing the shaft through the bearing and setting thelower end of the shaft in the lower bearing by reason of their numberand their pointe upper ends a stud 12, secured upon the upper part ofthe shaft B, as'shown in Fig. 1, to be readil caught and retainedbetween any two of suc lugs f, whereby the rotation of the collar F iseffected.

A ring of flexible resilient material L, provided with transversecorrugations Z, surrounds the body portion of the main ring Eintermediately of said body portion and the frame A, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, acting as a cushion for the bearing and serving to center andsteady the shaft B during the operation of the se arator. During therapid rotation of the bowl D both it and the shaft B vibrateconsiderably, the axis of vibration or oscillation passing through thelower bearing C, the point of oscillation being fixed and located at thelower end of the shaft B. In order that the strain of these lateral movements might not be sustained by the frame or be communicated to the sameand in order that the shaft might be always centered. e. a, have theparallelism of its axis and that of the bearing-axis constantlymaintained, I have provided an feature by causing tory and laterallymovable about its lowermost oint as a center, such movements of saidshaft being permitted"by the free play u on its curve surface of theflange e over t e curved shoulder a, which forms astationaryguiding-surface for the bearing durin its lateral movements.As will be noted, have formed the flange e and the shoulder a C, thelugs f in the collar F allowin automatically-adjustable the shaft B tobe oscilla-x with complementary curved surfaces,.both

surfaces 'ein sph ere, w 'ch as its center at the lowermost point ofscillation or vibration of the shaft B/or, in other words, the radius ofcurvature of the flange '6' and shoulder a is equal to the distance fromthe lowermost end of the shaft B to the curved surface of the flange eor ,shoulder a. A suitablespace has beenprovided upon'the shoulder a toallow for the lateral play of the flange e. The surrounding resilientring of flexible material L compensates for the lateral movements of theshaft and bearing and revents them from being transmitted to t esupporting-frame A. As thus applied-to a centrifugalse arator myimproved bearing allows the owl and shaft to vibrate freely and enablessuch vibrations to be taken up without any consequent jars to the frameor rocking motions of the'same.

Having described my invention in detail, that which I particularly pointout andidistinctly claim is I 1.. In combination, a vertical rigidrotatable shaft adapted to support a load, and two sets ofantifriction-bearings for said'shaft, one of said sets ofantifriction-bearings adapted to permit lateral shifting 'of the shaft,the second of said sets of antifriction bearings arranged to permit theshaft to tilt therein. i

2. In combination, a support and a vertical rigid shaft adapted tosupport a load, a set of antifriction-bearings disposed between thesupport and shaft in such manner as to receive the and a set ofantifriction guiding-bearings held about the shaft and yieldingly sup-)orted so as to be capable of sidewise oscillation in a curve having itscenter substantially in the zone of the thrust-bearings.

3. In combination, a support and a vertical rigid shaft adapted tosupport aload, a group of antifrictlon-bearings disposed between the suport and the shaft and'adapted to receive the longitudinal pressure ofthe latter, and a second group 0 antifrictionbearings disposed aroundthe s aft and capa ble of sidewlse oscillation with the shaft and sosupported that the relative positions of longitudinal thrust of thelatter,

parts of the surface of a the shaft and. the last-named roup of bear- 4I ings remain constant during t e oscillation.

4. In combination, asupport, a vertical rigid shaft ada ted to support aload, a. ring surrounding) t e shaft, antifmction-rollers interposed esaid ring having a s herioal surface contacting with a spherica surfaceon the support tween said shaft and said ring,

5. The cq mbinafion with d laterally-mov receive axial t lm'lst from thsh aft about the able anfifriction-bearing, of a veftical rigid saidfixed omt. IO

revoluble shgt adapted to carry a load, sfiid Signed y me this 20th dayof April, 1904. sLa-ft being Xd, a ain st transversp osci a- I T tion atone poinq its 'ax'is'external to the Q P Q f sealing and arranged tomove freely in di'rec Attest: tion's transverse to its axis at all otherpoints, A. E. MERKEL, and g second antifrictionbearing arranged 190' G.W; SAYWELL.

